Senators yesterday rallied to the call of President Duterte to help destroy 10,000 narcotics networks that he said he had uncovered in the country, admitting he couldn’t win the war against drugs alone.
Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said he would seek an audience with the President to discuss the steps he would like Congress to take to support his campaign.
“I will talk to him to find out what legislative intervention he desires,” Pimentel told reporters.
The President enjoys overwhelming support in both houses of Congress, with the legislature ruled by a supermajority of allied lawmakers.
“He has my unequivocal support in the fight against illegal drugs even without being asked,” said Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chair of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs.
“Calling the members of both houses of Congress to assist is long in coming, but it’s never too late. I’m thankful that he now acknowledges that he can’t do it alone and needs our assistance to defeat the drug menace,” said Lacson, a former chief of the Philippine National Police.
Ledac meeting
Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III and Minority Leader Ralph Recto also welcomed Mr. Duterte’s move to reach out to Congress.
“We will be willing to give him 100-percent cooperation. I’m looking forward to the Ledac so we will know what else he needs,” Sotto said in a text message, referring to the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac).
“A consensus is always good. I’m willing to listen to the President’s request,” Recto said.
In his speech before his depature for an official visit to Japan on Tuesday, Mr. Duterte said he would work toward a “consensus” with lawmakers to form a final solution to the problem.
The President said he was shocked by the enormity of the country’s drug problem after getting a thick bundle of papers, which showed the final list of drug coddlers and pushers in the country as verified by law enforcers.
“There are about a thousand policemen involved in drugs. There are almost a thousand barangay captains already in the business of ‘shabu’ (methamphetamine hydrochloride), and there are about a few mayors and national officials,” he said.
Third narcolist
The President was referring to the third batch of politicians, policemen, judges and barangay chairs who have been tagged as protectors of drug lords and drug pushers.
He has exposed five top police, hundreds of policemen, several judges, and Sen. Leila de Lima in the first two sets of his drug matrix.
The President has taken some time before releasing the third narcolist to verify names after getting burned several times in the first two lists.
Mr. Duterte ran and won largely on his campaign promise to stop illegal drugs, crime and corruption in three to six months in office.
Bigger than expected
But after taking over Malacañang, he admitted that the drug problem had turned out to be bigger than he had anticipated.
He said he needed another six months to undertake the crackdown.
“I can’t do it. What will I do, kill them all? It’s almost 10,000 networks spread all throughout the Philippines,” the President said.
“Shabu has infected even soldiers and doctors and lawyers. That is how serious our problem is,” he added.
“I will call maybe for a consensus from the top—all senators, congressmen. The problem is too massive and I can’t do it on my own … I’ll be frank with everybody. I don’t know how to find a solution for this.”
As the President spoke on Tuesday, the PNP regional chiefs met to evaluate the country’s war on drugs and consider a possible shift in strategy to increase arrests and cut down on bloodshed, according to his spokesperson, Ernesto Abella.
Project Double Barrel
Abella said “Project Double Barrel,” as the narcotics crackdown is called, would assess whether there was a need to make adjustments to what he described as a successful campaign, according to Reuters.
“The purpose of the conference is to assess and if necessary to recalibrate the campaign,” Abella said in a text message to Reuters.
Reuters reported exclusively on Monday that police chiefs around the country would be briefed on the new plan.
Two sources with knowledge of the matter said under the plan, dubbed “Project Double Barrel Alpha,” more resources would go into arresting prominent people tied to the drug trade, such as policemen, politicians and celebrities.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan called on the President to convene the Judicial Executive Legislative Advisory and Consultative Council to address budgetary support for the modernization of the “antiquated and dysfunctional justice system.”
Sen. Grace Poe pointed out that the Senate had taken steps to strengthen laws that would support law enforcement efforts, including the amendment of the Anti-Wiretapping Law to include drug-related crimes among exemptions.
While the majority in the House of Representatives supported Mr. Duterte, Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano was skeptical.
“I think he would want to have martial law because what else could he want from Congress that would help him in his fight against drugs?” —WITH REPORTS FROM MAILA AGER, TARRA QUISMUNDO, GIL CABACUNGAN, NIKKO DIZON